"I'm sorry..."
The last words spoken from the dead teenager replayed over and over in his head like a broken record.
Tony collapsed. He held up his hand with a desperate sort of eagerness. No matter how much he wished to vanish like the others, it wouldn't happen to him. After a few seconds, Tony felt the broken shards of his heart shatter into even smaller pieces as the realization settled in that he had failed. He couldn't save the universe from Thanos' ruthless plan for eternal balance, much less the Guardians and Dr. Strange. And Peter.
"He did it," the blue figure whispered.
Some distance behind him she sat down in some rubble from the battle.
Tony let out a shuddering sigh. He brought his hands close to his face which moments before held Peter, a comforting act to assure him that it would be okay even though he would disintegrate soon after. And Peter felt guilty as he did.
Tony felt a lone tear slip down his cheek. His worst fear had come true, the fear of total failure. Failure that would result in loss because he couldn't do more, or because he wasn't strong enough.
Tony recalled himself having a dream-no, nightmare-where he hadn't done enough to save his friends a few years back. Desperate to never let this vision become a terrible reality, he focused on the idea of there being a suit of armor around the world. Since it never came to be in the way he wanted, he tried and tried to perfect his suits instead. He had thought nanotechnology would be the perfect defense against anything threatening him and his family's world, but the realization hit in the painful moment where Thanos stabbed through the tattered suit and cut through his soft flesh. The realization that his creation would never meet perfection.
His suit wasn't advanced enough for battling Thanos. If it was, maybe they would have won. He wasn't strong enough when helping the kid pull off the gauntlet. If he was, they would have been able to keep the infinity stones away from Thanos and his "merciful" plan to save the universe.
Similar to the moon that Thanos unceremoniously threw onto him, which knocked him into the earth, Tony's guilt weighed him down until he couldn't think about anything but guilt.
"I lost him," Tony croaked, his mouth suddenly dry. "I lost the kid."
The alien woman continued to stare at the dusty ground, so much emotion pooled in her dark eyes yet a there was a large emptiness in their depths.
Tony closed his eyes and his mind turned into a void.
For a while the two survivors sat in silence as thunder rumbled, the sound muffled as it was distant. No words were spoken. What was there to speak about?
After some time passed, Tony was made aware of the woman rising to her feet and stumbling across the debris to meet him. He opened his eyes to find her standing in front of him, eyes fixed on his with an unreadable expression across her features.
"We should not stay here any longer," she muttered.
The woman pointed to an unknown spot in the distance with her metal hand. "Their ship can take us far from here."
Tony averted his eyes. The one person in his life that he loved more than anything came to his mind. Pepper. Oh, how he wished to know if she was still alive. He hoped with all of his soul that she hadn't turned to dust along with half of the universe. Tony hoped that of all people he wouldn't have to lose her too.
It seemed like years since they were planning their wedding. Since they were together, hopeful for their happy future to come.
Tony looked up to see an outstretched hand, and he gripped it. "I'm Tony," he said, his voice hollow and strained.
The woman, without too much effort, hoisted the man to his feet. "Nebula."